Entertainment

11 Nintendo Games That Defined Their Consoles

11 Games That Sold Their Nintendo Consoles

1. Donkey Kong

In 1981, arcade machines started to make their mark in America, and Pac-Man became a fast success.

Nintendo had made many attempts to enter the American marketplace during this time. Its first success was an arcade game called Donkey Kong, an early platformer in which Jumpman (before he was christened Mario) must rescue a princess from a giant ape.

Donkey Kong was the second title designed by Shigeru Miyamoto, the creative mind behind many of Nintendo's successful franchises. Miyamoto said he was inspired by the Popeye cartoon, and modeled the ape and Jumpman after Bluto and Popeye. Donkey Kong's arcade cabinet was released in 1981, and by June 1982, Nintendo had sold more than 60,000 in the U.S. and Canada, earning Nintendo around $180 million that year.

2. Super Mario Bros.

The Nintendo Entertainment System reached nationwide distribution in the U.S. in 1986. The first console made by Nintendo, it arrived right after the American video game market had crashed for a second time. To help relieve Americans of their skepticism for at-home gaming consoles, Nintendo promised all its games would reach a certain standard — the company printed a "seal of quality" on each title. (They also enlisted a little mustached plumber for help.)

Super Mario Brothers was unlike almost any game Americans had played. It had a story, a wide variety of characters and was one of the earliest examples of a platform game. It was easy enough for anyone to play, and offered eight worlds to get people hooked. Some NES consoles came bundled with Super Mario Brothers and Duck Hunt on one cartridge — those two immediately available games helped sales tremendously.

3. Tetris

In 1989, very few people believed you could take a game with you wherever you went. While there was some early experimentation with handheld consoles, Nintendo's Game Boy became a quick front-runner in the space, thanks to its falling blocks puzzle game.

Nintendo sold Tetris as a pack-in for the Game Boy. And it marketed the game beyond Mario fans. Tetris was a puzzle game that appealed to everyone, and even though it was also sold for the NES, the game's quick nature made it perfect for portables. This recipe is still repeated on today's mobile games — quick playthrough games that have you vowing "just one more try" are extremely addictive.

Tetris sold more than 35 million copies, and helped the Game Boy reach 64 million in sales worldwide.

4. Super Mario Bros 3

The console field became more crowded in 1989 with the release of the Sega Genesis, a graphically superior console to the 8-bit NES. Still, Nintendo had one trick up its sleeve to keep fans interested in the aging console. In Dec. 1989, the movie The Wizard hit theaters — it featured extensive footage of Super Mario Bros. 3.

The game had been delayed two years between its release in Japan and the U.S., so by the time Super Mario Bros. 3 arrived, fans were ready. The game was more graphically advanced and complex than its predecessors, and spawned a Mario fervor that included a cartoon show and merchandise.

According the Guinness Book of World Records, Super Mario Bros. 3 was the biggest selling video game at the time not bundled with a console, with a total of 17.8 million sales. That doesn't include the additional million or so copies sold on the Wii Virtual Console. It is easily the first video game blockbuster, and contributed massively to the NES's sales later in life.

5. Super Mario World

America's addiction to Mario continued with the launch of the Super Nintendo in 1991. Nintendo bundled the 16-bit Super Mario World with the system, and the expansive, whimsical game made players fall in love with Mario all over again. It sold 20 million units worldwide, and helped the SNES sell 43 million.

Mario has a legacy of helping Nintendo consoles perform well, along with Nintendo's other beloved characters. But the introduction of the adorable dinosaur Yoshi in Super Mario World made the game even more endearing and successful.

6. Donkey Kong Country

In late 1994, gamers were able to preview what 32-bit graphics would look like on the upcoming Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn. At this time, Nintendo released Donkey Kong Country, which boasted impressive pre-rendered 3D graphics. The game blew players away and became the fastest selling video game of all time up to that point.

Why was Donkey Kong Country so great? It was a perfect platformer, with so much to explore in each level. The graphics were by far the most powerful gamers had ever seen on a Nintendo. The game became the second highest seller for the SNES, even near the end of its life.

7. GoldenEye 64

In the mid-'90s, the first-person shooter genre only existed on PCs. Although they were successful thanks to titles like DOOM and Wolfenstein 3D, it wasn't until Aug. 1997, when GoldenEye 007 broke onto the Nintendo 64, proving consoles could be just as fun for shooter players.

GoldenEye was landmark for many reasons. The awkwardly shaped Nintendo 64 controller made a little more sense when players used the bottom trigger to fire weapons, and it introduced separate controls for movement and the first-person camera to a mainstream console audience. The game featured a strong single-player storyline, with many possible objectives in each mission -- not to mention replayability.

But more importantly, the game utilized Nintendo 64's four-controller support in some of the most fun and varied multiplayer scenarios, especially once a player unlocked some of the game's more ridiculous modes, like "slappers only" and "tiny Bond."

GoldenEye sold 8 million copies worldwide, and was easily responsible for helping push the Nintendo 64 beyond Mario's core audience.

8. Pokémon

In 1998, Nintendo performed a much-needed refresh with the Game Boy Color. At the same time, popular Japanese video game Pokémon made its way to the U.S. It became the perfect pairing for the Game Boy Color, just as American children and teenagers began chanting "gotta catch 'em all."

Pokémon originally contained 151 unique creatures, so trying to collect them all became a challenge. More difficult, there were differences in the games: Pokémon Blue didn't contain all the same monsters as Pokémon Red, so it meant finding a friend or a second Game Boy to reach the magic number. As a result, Nintendo sold 8.6 million copies of the game (both versions) in the first two years in the U.S., and the Game Boy Color sold 50 million units.

Pokémon has become the second largest video game franchise in the world, only behind Mario. Each game had a dramatic impact on the handheld console it was delivered on. And 2012 will probably see more sales of the defunct DS, as Pokémon Black and White 2 will be shipped on that system.

9. Super Smash Brothers: Melee

Nintendo's GameCube wasn't a blockbuster. While it sold well, it didn't compare to the runaway success of the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. However, some solid games propelled the system as a multiplayer experience, the most important of which was Super Smash Brothers: Melee.

While the N64 Super Smash Brothers was a breakout experience for Nintendo, it was Melee that perfected the craft. The successful fighting title featured so many beloved Nintendo characters. It also could accommodate any level of player; it was easy to pick up and learn, but the controls weren't simple to master. Super Smash Brothers: Melee even became a popular game for tournament play.

Super Smash Brothers: Melee was the highest selling game for GameCube, selling more than 7 million copies worldwide. It still remains popular 11 years later for tournament play.

10. Nintendogs

While Nintendo's Game Boy held a powerful legacy, consumers were a little unsure when Nintendo released its dual-screen handheld, the DS. Its touch controls were unique, but the purpose of two screens for gameplay wasn't entirely clear. Nintendo had the solution though: puppies.

It released Nintendogs in three varieties at the same time as the DS. In the simulation, you trained, fed and played with the dog of your choice (one of 18 breeds) using the touch controls to interact with it. While it was a simple concept, the variety of dogs available and the accessibility to anyone, not just gamers, made Nintendogs a massive success. The fact that players were responsible for a pet's feeding, bathing and entertainment meant they were playing for long periods, too.

The first three games -- Dachshund and Friends, Labrador and Friends and Chihuahua and Friends -- sold 6 million copies around the world in the first year. It easily propelled the DS sales in the consoles the first year, and to this day, it's the second biggest selling title on the system.

11. Wii Sports

When Nintendo began selling the innovative, motion-controlled Wii in 2005, it packaged the console with Wii Sports. The game was an add-in meant to sell the radically different controls of the Wii via fun, accessible games.

Wii Sports became the reason many even purchased a Wii in the first place, especially for demographics that traditionally had never touched a video game. The add-in became the console's selling feature, opening the doors for casual gamers and becoming the centerpiece at house parties in the mid to late-'00s.

This legacy was picked up by Wii Sports Resort, but Wii Sports still holds the living room legacy.

Nintendo has three decades of game selling experience in the U.S., and it just happens to have the most recognizable franchises in gaming. From the 1980s (when gaming was a niche) to today's crowded marketplace (when games can be played on any device), Nintendo's hardware continues to appeal to rabid fans.

Its success is partly due to great quality hardware, but mostly because Nintendo publishes some of the best and most memorable games. It adds new elements that didn't exist in games before. In the 1980s, it brought real stories to games, along with characters like Mario, who are recognizable to children all over the globe. Nintendo's titles have been able to push risky or experimental consoles into millions of homes, for example, the original Nintendo Entertainment System, the Game Boy or the Wii.

Nintendo's senior communications director Charlie Scibetta told Mashable that the company doesn't focus as much on what its gaming competition is doing. "We just make our games as good as possible, and everything else will follow."

Nintendo is preparing to launch its next-gen Wii U console, which has made some risky design choices with a tablet screen in the controller. The question lingers whether Nintendo can repeat its success. The company has announced 50 games that will be available within the first four months of the Wii U launch, but will those titles capture gamers' hearts and minds according to its historical precendent?

To examine this further, Mashable looked at games that were kingmakers on their own respective consoles. While Nintendo has many strong first and third-party titles, these 11 really stand out as system sellers. While we didn't touch on every major Nintendo franchise, these games broke ground and got new fans interested in Nintendo.

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